His successor, Calonne, recklessly plunged the finances into a more hopeless condition than ever, and in 1786 the king was induced to call together the States-General, the really popular assembly of representatives, which had not met since 1614, and then in vain. Thenceforward there was a succession of barriers thrown down; madness set in upon the long-oppressed people, who wreaked the vengeance of a thousand years. Frightful mobs rose upon all whom they connected with their past misery. Nobles and clergy fell; the king was dethroned, and in 1793 was executed. A reign of terror set in, during which Robespierre and other fanatics, who thought they must destroy in order to build up, sent to the beheading machine, the guillotine, thousands of victims, and hoped to have swept away even the Christian religion, together with all the old abuses of power.
The Advent of Napoleon and the Directory.—When they fell in 1794, less sanguinary counsels prevailed, and, after sundry attempts at forms of government, Napoleon Bonaparte, of Corsican birth, climbed to supreme power. His course had been through victories. Belgium had been overrun, the Austrians forced back across the Rhine, the allied armies of England and Holland gradually pushed back, and Prussia and Spain forced to conclude peace. The new government began on October 28, the convention having been dissolved on the 26th. England, Russia, and Austria, in a new coalition, now began to carry on a more vigorous warfare; but Carnot’s strategic direction soon baffled it. Bonaparte was put in command of the army which was not to advance against the Austrians from Italy, and in 1796 and 1797 completely changed the condition of affairs. At the truce of Leoben (April 18, 1797) France controlled all Italy; Austria surrendered all rights in Belgium and recognized those republics which France established; and the history of France became almost wholly identified for nearly eighteen years with that of a single man, Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Consulate.—Bonaparte was chosen first consul for ten years, December 13, 1799; consul for life, August 2, 1802; then hereditary emperor, May 18, 1804. He reformed and reorganized legislation at home by the formation of the civil code, the organization of public instruction, and the improvements he introduced in all the branches of public service; while he added to his military and political glory by a new succession of triumphs, resulting in the treaties of peace signed at Presburg (1805), Tilsit (1807), and Vienna (1809).
He had now reached the height of his glory; he had placed his brothers on the thrones of Holland, Westphalia, and Spain, and his brother-in-law on that of Naples; but his power was shaken by the resistance which he met with in the Spanish peninsula (1808-1813); and his prestige was ruined by his expedition to Russia in 1812. The European nations united against him, and inflicted upon him at Leipsic, October 16-19, 1813, a blow from which he never recovered.
The Restoration.—Napoleon was dethroned in April, 1814, exiled to the island of Elba, and the brother of Louis XVI. received from the conquerors the sceptre of France, now restricted to her old limits. The sudden return of Napoleon from Elba, however, overthrew this new power; and for one hundred days, from March 20 to June 28, 1815, he was again the sovereign of France; but the battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) destroyed his power forever, and the Bourbons once more ruled the kingdom.
Louis XVIII. granted a charter to his subjects, and died in 1824 in undisturbed possession of his throne. His brother and successor, Charles X., sought popularity by supporting the Greek insurrection against Turkey and conquering Algiers; but having attempted to suspend some of the most important guarantees secured by the charter, a formidable insurrection broke out, July 27, 1830, and he was obliged to abdicate.
House of Orleans.—After a few days’ interval the head of the younger branch of the house of Bourbon, Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, was appointed “king of the French” (August 9) by the chamber of deputies. The choice, being acceptable to the middle classes or bourgeoisie, was maintained; and notwithstanding some occasional outbursts of republicanism among the people, the July monarchy, as it was called, lasted for nearly eighteen years.
Revolution of 1848.—A political manifestation in favor of parliamentary reform brought on another revolution, February 24, 1848, and France became a republic, with a provisional government in which Lamartine played the most conspicuous part; but within a few months the majority of the constituent assembly, frightened by socialistic movements and a terrible civil struggle in the capital (June 23-26), became hostile to the new form of government. On December 10, 1848, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I., was elected president, for a term of four years. On December 2, 1851, the president dissolved the assembly, assumed dictatorial powers, and appealed to the people to sanction his act by their votes. He was reëlected president for a term of ten years; a new constitution was promulgated; and finally, on November 7, 1852, the senate proposed the reëstablishment of the empire.
Second Empire.—The empire was proclaimed, December 2, 1852, and Louis Napoleon ascended the throne with the title of Napoleon III. The chief event of the early portion of this reign was the Crimean war, which largely increased the military prestige of the nation, as well as the popularity and strength of Napoleon’s rule. The war with Austria (1859) left France in a position of even greater authority than before in European politics. In 1860 Savoy and Nice were ceded to France by Italy. The emperor’s schemes for establishing the Hapsburg prince Maximilian on the throne of Mexico proved so ignominious a [492] failure as to do much toward undermining the opinion of his power that had been held in Europe.
The course which Napoleon pursued during the Prusso-Austrian war in 1866 did not tend to restore confidence in him. In 1867 he aided in defending the power of the pope against the Garibaldians. In 1868 the growth of public opinion against the emperor was conspicuous; in 1869 much excitement was caused by the exposure of the confusion in financial affairs; and in 1870 popular disturbances, fomented by Rochefort, broke out on the acquittal of Pierre Bonaparte for the shooting of Victor Noir.